Laboratory measurements of the physics of auroral electron acceleration by Alfvén waves
Abstract
While the aurora has attracted attention for millennia, important questions remain unanswered. Foremost is how auroral electrons are accelerated before colliding with the ionosphere and producing auroral light. Powerful Alfvén waves are often found traveling Earthward above auroras with sufficient energy to generate auroras, but there has been no direct measurement of the processes by which Alfvén waves transfer their energy to auroral electrons. Here, we show laboratory measurements of the resonant transfer of energy from Alfvén waves to electrons under conditions relevant to the auroral zone. Experiments are performed by launching Alfvén waves and simultaneously recording the electron velocity distribution. Numerical simulations and analytical theory support that the measured energy transfer process produces accelerated electrons capable of reaching auroral energies. The experiments, theory, and simulations demonstrate a clear causal relationship between Alfvén waves and accelerated electrons that directly cause auroras.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[2];
[2];
[3];
[3];
- Wheaton College, IL (United States)
- Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (United States)
- Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
- Space Science Inst., Los Angeles, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); National Science Foundation (NSF); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1797355
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 2251513
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0014599; AGS-1054061; FC02-07ER54918; GRF-1048957; 80NSSC18K1217; PHY-1561912
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nature Communications
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 12; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; Aurora; Landau Damping; Particle acceleration; Plasma physics; 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; aurora, particle acceleration, Alfvén waves
Citation Formats
Schroeder, Jim W. R., Howes, G. G., Kletzing, C. A., Skiff, F., Carter, T. A., Vincena, S., and Dorfman, S. Laboratory measurements of the physics of auroral electron acceleration by Alfvén waves. United States: N. p., 2021.
Web. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23377-5.
Schroeder, Jim W. R., Howes, G. G., Kletzing, C. A., Skiff, F., Carter, T. A., Vincena, S., & Dorfman, S. Laboratory measurements of the physics of auroral electron acceleration by Alfvén waves. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23377-5
Schroeder, Jim W. R., Howes, G. G., Kletzing, C. A., Skiff, F., Carter, T. A., Vincena, S., and Dorfman, S. Mon .
"Laboratory measurements of the physics of auroral electron acceleration by Alfvén waves". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23377-5. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1797355.
@article{osti_1797355,
title = {Laboratory measurements of the physics of auroral electron acceleration by Alfvén waves},
author = {Schroeder, Jim W. R. and Howes, G. G. and Kletzing, C. A. and Skiff, F. and Carter, T. A. and Vincena, S. and Dorfman, S.},
abstractNote = {While the aurora has attracted attention for millennia, important questions remain unanswered. Foremost is how auroral electrons are accelerated before colliding with the ionosphere and producing auroral light. Powerful Alfvén waves are often found traveling Earthward above auroras with sufficient energy to generate auroras, but there has been no direct measurement of the processes by which Alfvén waves transfer their energy to auroral electrons. Here, we show laboratory measurements of the resonant transfer of energy from Alfvén waves to electrons under conditions relevant to the auroral zone. Experiments are performed by launching Alfvén waves and simultaneously recording the electron velocity distribution. Numerical simulations and analytical theory support that the measured energy transfer process produces accelerated electrons capable of reaching auroral energies. The experiments, theory, and simulations demonstrate a clear causal relationship between Alfvén waves and accelerated electrons that directly cause auroras.},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-021-23377-5},
journal = {Nature Communications},
number = 1,
volume = 12,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jun 07 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Mon Jun 07 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}
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